The Japanese news source reports that there have been substantial steps forward for Index Corporation (Atlus' parent company) to transfer management control over to Sega Sammy Holdings (Sega's parent company).

This comes as Sega will formally purchase Index for 14 billion yen (US$141 million), and Index's game business is being reorganized under Sega.

According to Bloomberg (via Destructoid), around twenty companies are interested in acquiring Index …
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Update: Sega Sammy Holdings has issued a statement regarding the Nikkei story via Inside, stating, "Today, according to a media outlet, there is a report that our company is taking over Index's operations. However, this is not an announcement our company made."

Update 2: Sega has now confirmed the purchase. Please be gentle with the Persona series.